Anything that needs an app of a fictitious radio station installed on your phone before engaging with it is excitement enough in itself. Over three segments, Darkfield Radio enraptures us with an audio immersive experience that encourages movement across real-life locations, bringing its audience face-to-face with characters that aren’t too sure what they’re supposed to be telling you. Confusing? Possibly. But Knot: The Trilogy encapsulates the exact ingredients for success that make the best BBC crime dramas unforgettable. In short—it’s deliciously executed armchair detective porn.
Sitting in your car or local park with a pair of headphones on, it’s mere moments before you’re easily spooked by what feels like real life surrounding goings on. That’s testament to the incredible quality of the sound production, constantly nagging at the need to look over your shoulder. The narrative content and audio devices form a devious pairing to bring about promised thrills. Through our debut in the park, we meet a woman who doesn’t know who she is or why she exists. In the car, we’re held hostage by two anonymous drivers taking endless turns to never leave. In our houses, we’re the centrefold of a meeting set to right past wrongs. This Black Mirror style of cyclical consciousness drip-feeds layers of extended meaning while prompting us to ask life’s big questions. What is real? Who are we? Why do we trust what’s presented to us? It’s an experience that’s awash with main character syndrome. Seemingly, we hold all the answers to what’s unfolding in our ears.
The devil remains in the detail as Knot continues. Dialogue feels alien and intentionally jarring. Vocal changes mid-sentence keeps our nerves shot to pieces. The ominous radio host adds as much to our disillusionment as the narrative itself. These touches keep us on tenterhooks through an epic 2.5 hours, leaving us scrambling to reach for notebooks and plotted corkboards in the intervals (or as they became, debriefs). Despite collaborative focus from listener and producer, we never really find the story’s sole purpose. Our small-scale ends are neatly tied up, but we’re left to guess the bigger picture. Through themes of collective consciousness, entity and infinite existence, there’s no tangible hook. Do narratives really need a satisfying ending? In the context of fringe and commercial theatre, yes. But Knot sits outside expectations of what theatre or audio should be. As disappointing as it may feel, we’re not owed anything if we’re only left asking empirical questions.
It’s not a surprise that we’ll be seeing Knot: A Trilogy at Venice Film Festival—the immersive experience is truly unforgettable, produced to the highest quality. There’s a strong chance listeners will be bothered by the lack of eventual satisfaction, but the journey to get nowhere is scary, sub-human and incredibly moving.
Knot: The Trilogy is on as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe until 29 August 2021.
★★★★
Words by Jasmine Valentine.
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